Hm. I don't think that having low income and being low class are the same thing. You can find low class people everywhere, regardless of their income.

As far as lay away goes, I seriously doubt Oprah has ever used it in the past 20 years. Honestly, I have never known anyone who used lay away. Maybe Walmart was losing money on it. If they can't justify the program financially, then why keep it? They are in the market to make money. If money wasn't the reason, then maybe it just became too much of a hassle to keep it going. All in all, it isn't a store's responsibility to provide lay away. Why not set up your own "lay away" and save a small amount each week or month (whatever you would pay toward lay away), and then purchase the item when you have enough saved? It certainly seems like that would be the easier option.